DSK wrote:
....snip...
My imprssion of the Folkboat and it's many near-sisters is that they
actually are pretty good sailing boats, but have some quirks.
....snip...
Some of those old time boats were high art. They take a lot of very
specialized care, which most people don't have the time for even if they
had the patience (if they had the patience, the skills would follow).
One blessing is that the proper materials to take care of the survivors
are easier to find now than they were 35 years ago.
....snip...
If I had to do something of the sort, I'd probably make it an S-boat.
....snip...
My grandfather's soul would be pleased. The problem is that I've been
spoiled too long... had a series of boats that were less trouble, easier
to handle and less likely to bite if mis-handled, far less maintenance,
drier inside (and having a dry bunk can be worth a LOT), faster, etc
etc. My wife and I looked for a couple of years for a "big & serious"
cruising sailboat that had our desired features... speed, comfort,
seaworthy enough (but not making big sacrifices for it), good looks,
plus shallow draft... but we eventually got a tugboat instead and now we
just sail for fun.


Hi, Doug,

I'm just gonna make some general comments here to avoid having this
thread get too long and complicated to read by interspersing 'em. I
made a bunch of comments about the Folkboat specifically in my
response to Peter, so I'll avoid repeating those specifics here.

I'll preempt antagonistic comments about my choices by admitting that
I've gotten old and lazy. However, even as a young guy, I found that
owning a wooden boat meant spending more time doing maintenance than
sailing. I'm too lazy to consider that "fun." I'm not a woodworker,
I'm a sailor. (With apologies to Dr. McCoy from the original Star
Trek.) To me, that means that I do maintenance because I must, not
because it's a pleasurable end in itself. I also don't wanna be a
diesel mechanic, or an electrician, or a plumber, or whatever. If I
were rich, I admit I'd pay somebody to do all that kinda crap.

I'm 56 and I've been sailing since I was a kid. I've been on a lot of
different types of boats for varying lengths of time, not just around
the buoys on Wednesday night. So, when I say that I prefer one thing
to another, I'm not just shooting from the hip or commenting based on
something I once read. I'm making an informed choice based on my
personal experience. I completely understand that YMMV.

For instance, consider the Pardeys. They have vastly more experience
than I and pretty much every opinion they have and every decision they
make is the polar opposite of mine. Does that mean that they're right
and I'm wrong? Or vice versa? Well, if I were drunk enough (in vino
veritas) after our evening of umbrella drinks in that tropical bar, I
might admit that I do think they're kinda wacky. But they seem pretty
happy with who and where they are in life. And they're sure making
more money from sailing than I am. From what I hear, even The Boobster
has a sailing book deal in the works. Imagine that. A sailing book by
Nutsy. The mind boggles. Anyway...

I guess it's nice that there are designers and builders who produce
"traditional" boats and designers and builders who produce other kinds
of boats. That way all us happy little consumers can make whatever
choices we want to.

Frank